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Welcome to the Official Site of The Y in Central Maryland Turkey Trot Charity 5K! We are excited to have you join us for this Thanksgiving morning tradition.

Adults, children and families from across the region come together to not only run (or walk, jog, stroll), but to raise funds so that children living in poverty in Central Maryland have access to Y programs that will forever shape their lives.

Thank you for being part of something good on Thanksgiving Morning!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Imagine

Today's post comes to us from Lauren Manekin Beille, Annual Campaign Director of Development, here at the Y of Central Maryland. This is a true story, which Lauren recently shared with the organization.

Imagine.

You are 52 years old.You are a single parent.You have two teenage kids.From New York, you have moved to Maryland thinking there would be more jobs available here after graduating with a MBA.

There aren’t…You are a cashier today making $9.40/hour…living in your car … in your car … with two teenagers.

You wake up…need to find a shower…drop the kids off at school…go to work…pick them up from school…you need help…you need to find food…you need a bathroom…and now you need to find a place to park to sleep tonight.

Tomorrow will be the same.

The Brookings Institution, a Washinton think tank, is reporting that today suburban poor now outnumber urban poor. More people living in poverty in Baltimore’s suburbs than in the city itself. Between 2000-2011 the city poverty level grew by 4% while in the suburbs it grew by 58%.Poverty in this state has spread because people are moving, losing jobs, and/or taking low-income positions which are forcing them to make heart wrenching decisions about their lives and that of their families.What’s the solution?Places like the Y! The Brookings researchers have suggests “groups rethink how – and where—they fund and provide services…What we need to look for are organizations that can do more than one thing in more than one place and once.”The story of this family is one of tens of thousands of examples of families that the Y is raising funds to serve every day of the year. The Y IS the organization that DOES more than one thing, across the ENTIRE state for all Marylanders, all at once!Thank you for helping us, it’s REALLY important.Picture from http://llenrock.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Baltimore-City-aerial-view.jpg